Impact of Ecodesign and Energy/Tyre Labelling on R&D and technological innovation Final report Impact of Ecodesign and Energy/Tyre Labelling on R&D and technological innovation Final report By: Sibylle Braungardt, Edith Molenbroek, Matthew Smith, Rob Williams, Sophie Attali, Catriona McAlister Date: 23 May 2014 Project number: DESNL13606 © European Union (2014) This study was ordered and paid for by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy. All copyright is vested in the European Commission. The information and views set out in this study are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. ECOFYS Netherlands B.V. | Kanaalweg 15G | 3526 KL Utrecht| T +31 (0)30 662-3300 | F +31 (0)30 662-3301 | E [email protected] | I www.ecofys.com Chamber of Commerce 30161191 A cooperation of: Fraunhofer ISI (Project lead) Ecofys Triple E Consulting Sea Green Tree SoWatt ECOFYS Netherlands B.V. | Kanaalweg 15G | 3526 KL Utrecht| T +31 (0)30 662-3300 | F +31 (0)30 662-3301 | E [email protected] | I www.ecofys.com Chamber of Commerce 30161191 Abbreviations A/C: Air conditioning CECED: Trade association for white goods sector CSTB: Complex set top boxes (CSTBs) ED: Ecodesign directive EHI: The European Heating Industry sector organisation ELD: Energy Labelling directive ELC: European Lamp Companies Federation EPBD: Energy performance of buildings directive EPS: External power supplies (EPS) and battery chargers. EuP: Energy using product ErP: Energy related product ICT: Information and Communication Technology IPC: International Patent Classification GPP: Green public procurement LLCC: Least Lifecycle cost – an approach to assessing policy costs MEERP: Methodology for the Ecodesign of Energy-related Products MEPS: Minimum energy performance standards OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer OJEC: Official Journal of the European Commission REHVA: An HVAC trade association SSTB: Simple set top boxes (SSTBs) VA: Voluntary agreement WEEE: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive ECOFYS Netherlands B.V. | Kanaalweg 15G | 3526 KL Utrecht| T +31 (0)30 662-3300 | F +31 (0)30 662-3301 | E [email protected] | I www.ecofys.com Chamber of Commerce 30161191 Executive Summary In 2005, the European Commission issued the Ecodesign directive, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of Energy-using Products during their life-cycle. The directive was extended in 2009, to also cover Energy-related Products. The Ecodesign and Labelling directives have the potential to not only deliver energy savings but also to positively impact the innovation activities and competitiveness of the manufacturers of the regulated products. With regard to the upcoming revision of the directives in 2014, it is therefore of great importance to identify and optimize the factors that influence the innovation friendliness of the regulations. Such factors include the level of ambition of the regulation, industry participation in setting standards, the technical capabilities of regulators as well as the stability, speed and predictability of the regulatory process. So far, experience with the Ecodesign and Labelling regulations has shown that for some industry sectors, the reaction to, and involvement in, the legislative process was very positive; while, by contrast, other sectors have acted in a rather defensive way. Whereas for some sectors, even in the early phases of the regulation process, the directives seem to have stimulated innovation, in other sectors no such effect has been observed. Our study aimed to provide empirical evidence of the impact of the Ecodesign and Energy/Tyre Labelling implementing regulations on R&D and technological innovation by combining analysis of primary data gathered through company case studies with the analysis of secondary data, such as patent statistics and R&D funding. Furthermore, a typology of manufacturers was designed in order to characterise the companies’ responses to the legislative process. Based on the findings, policy recommendations on how to enhance the innovation impact of the implementing regulations were derived. Findings from the literature: Existing research on the topic was reviewed and summarised to obtain a clear picture of the current understanding of the innovation impact of the Ecodesign and Labelling legislation. The literature review allows the following conclusions to be drawn: The innovation impact of environmental policy has been discussed widely and the factors that contribute to the “innovation friendliness” of policy instruments are rather well understood. In theory the Ecodesign and Labelling directives fulfil a number of the criteria for innovation friendliness and thus have the potential to positively influence innovation. However, empirical evidence of the innovation impact of the directives has been considered only marginally and no systematic analysis has been reported so far. Our study helps to fill this gap by analysing both primary and secondary data for a range of products. Secondary data analysis: We analysed the correlations between the regulatory process and the innovation activities of the companies affected by the regulation by using secondary data reflecting the innovation behaviour of companies for several product groups. The innovation impact was analysed in two ways: 1) The approved requests for R&D funding from the European Investment Bank between the years 2001 and 2012 were analysed in order to identify projects concerned with energy efficiency measures in products that are affected by the regulation. Our analysis observes funding requests that coincide ECOFYS Netherlands B.V. | Kanaalweg 15G | 3526 KL Utrecht| T +31 (0)30 662-3300 | F +31 (0)30 662-3301 | E [email protected] | I www.ecofys.com Chamber of Commerce 30161191 with the regulatory measures, especially in the white goods and tyre sector, however, the limited number of funding requests does not allow for statistical analysis. 2) We further analysed patent data as an indicator of technological innovation for improving the energy efficiency of products affected by the regulation. As energy efficiency is generally not reflected in the available patent classification system, search strategies were developed for a series of products. The data from the patent analysis show that the Ecodesign directive has typically not had a significant effect on the patenting activities of the affected companies. The findings of the patent analysis suggest that the companies already had the necessary technologies to meet the requirements, but were lacking incentives to bring them to market at a given time. The role of Ecodesign and Labelling (at least in the short term) is rather to promote the acceleration of the market diffusion of high-efficiency technologies. Primary data analysis: As a central element of this study, we performed case study interviews with companies directly affected by the legislation and experts from industry associations, member states and research institutions. In the company case studies, we collected and analysed primary data from manufacturers for a series of different products including white goods, electric motors, electronic appliances, heating supply, air conditioning and ventilation appliances, lighting products and tyres. The case study results show that the innovation impact differs for the various sectors. In sectors where the Ecodesign requirements and Labelling class levels were set in a rather ambitious way, the companies conducted a significant restructuring of production processes and product lines. The directives have supported market transformation towards more efficient technologies, mainly by facilitating the wider market introduction of existing high-efficiency technologies. Both for Ecodesign and Energy Labelling, most of the companies interviewed stated that the legislations have an influence on their innovation behaviour. The innovation impact is stronger in the deployment, commercialisation and diffusion of innovative energy efficiency technologies and is rather limited in the earlier R&D stages. For both Ecodesign and Labelling, a rather direct relationship between the ambition of the requirements and the innovation impact was observed. The ambition of the requirements is reflected in the share of products that are removed from the market when the regulation is adopted and differs rather strongly between the different products. For products where the implementing regulations define ambitious requirements in relation to the market, the innovation impact is strong. We further observed that the market and sales structures play an important role regarding the potential of Ecodesign and Energy Labelling to address the barriers to the deployment and diffusion of innovations. For the consumer market, information-related barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency innovation are predominant and are adequately addressed by the Labelling legislation for the high-efficiency end and by Ecodesign for the low-cost segment. In the business-to-business market for components it is essential to set ambitious Ecodesign requirements, as products are typically not sold to end users and are used as components in larger systems (e.g. electric motors